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By most accounts, Rupert Murdoch, the single most influential person in media and entertainment for the past 30 years, sealed his legacy Dec. 14 by agreeing to sell most of 21st Century Fox to Disney. Just two years ago, Murdoch, with much fanfare and optimism, had handed the keys to the Fox kingdom to sons James and Lachlan. When I interviewed the brothers for an October 2015 THR cover story, “The New Age of Murdochs,” Lachlan referred to the succession as a “generational transition to new management.” But something happened in recent months (see page 117 for Murdochologist Michael Wolff’s insider analysis), and Rupert decided to take Bob Iger’s $52.4 billion and retreat with Lachlan to a pared-down “new Fox” focused on news and sports, leaving James in line for…
Television Late-Night Ratings Colbert pulls away in new rankings p. 38 Agents Holiday Raid WME poaches top comedy and music reps p. 44 Heat Index Anita Hill The feminist icon will lead Hollywood’s new industrywide commission to fight sexual harassment that has the support of nearly every top executive in town. Morgan Spurlock After posting a lengthy sexual harassment mea culpa, the documentary director steps down from his production company as his Super-Size Me sequel is dropped by the YouTube Red service. Scott M. Mills The Viacom veteran is CEO Bob Bakish’s pick for president of the BET network, assuming the day-to-day duties of longtime chief Debra Lee, who remains CEO. Omarosa Manigault Newman The Celebrity Apprentice alum is booted from Trump’s White House staff in dramatic fashion after reportedly…
Inside Hulu’s Santa Monica headquarters Dec. 14, new CEO Randy Freer and executives huddled with their teams to answer questions about what Disney’s $52.4 billion deal for Fox assets will mean for the streamer, once dubbed Clown Co. for its complex corporate structure. It would give Disney 60 percent ownership over a business with more than 12 million subscribers, Emmy-winning IP (The Handmaid’s Tale) and a burgeoning live TV service. Comcast and Time Warner would remain part owners (for now), but with at least 12 months before a deal is finalized, several big questions loom for Hulu. 1. Will Comcast keep its ownership stake? NBCUniversal gave up its Hulu board seats after being acquired by Comcast in 2011, but those antitrust restrictions expire in the fall and the telecom giant…
How many daily employees are required to make good business sense out of a 53-acre studio lot on some of the most valuable land in America? As part of its $52.4 billion blockbuster Disney deal, Fox said it plans to keep its West L.A. lot and lease it back to Disney for the next seven years. What remains unclear is how many of those production facilities and how much of that office space Disney will need. A recent report from analyst Michael Nathanson estimates $2.5 billion in cost synergies, and Rupert Murdoch signaled in a Dec. 14 note that layoffs are inevitable. Burbank-based Disney’s lease with Fox gives it a presence on L.A.’s Westside, with access to additional soundstages, TV production and programming facilities, executive offices and support facilities just as…
Guest Column At various points in my career, I’ve had a stake in both Disney and Fox, so 21st Century Fox’s decision to sell to Disney fills me with ambivalence. On the one hand, it’s a tragedy for the movie world: There’ll be fewer films, fewer jobs, less diversity — and we’re already in arguably the worst era of film in history. A great brand will all but disappear. That’s especially heartbreaking for me because I took Fox from worst-performing major studio to box-office leader and hired so many of the people who now will be displaced. But it’s also a great moment because we’re free of Rupert Murdoch, who hated the business. He hated movie people, thought they were pampered and bleeding hearts. I remember once he went on…
$2.55B What Star India paid for cricket rights Among the wins for Disney in its $52.4 billion Fox deal will be a boost to the company’s international reach when it acquires Fox’s stake in European pay TV giant Sky and Indian TV powerhouse Star India, the latter of which will give it a particularly strong hand in the key market of India, where Fox is currently a more powerful player. How big a player is Star India? Disney and Fox would create a formidable powerhouse in the country of 1.28 billion. Over the years, both companies have become bigger in the country by investing heavily in local content. “If you want to be a strong player in Indian television, you need a presence in the general entertainment segment, so this…
